


The longest shadows of the sun

by Amestris



Category: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24743893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amestris/pseuds/Amestris
Summary: It is something of a gift to be held so highly in Laurence's regard
Relationships: William Laurence & Tenzing Tharkay
Kudos: 23





	The longest shadows of the sun

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't expecting this to be in second person when I started writing, so that's new and weird and unexpected.
> 
> Struggled with the title, I was very tempted by Untitled but went with the pretentious option instead!!

It is something of a gift to be held so highly in Laurence's regard. There is delight to be taken in the way his eyes brighten as they land upon you, the smile that follows, so artlessly sincere. He opens like a flower before the sun and the feel of it is more heady than the harvest of any poppy field.

It makes it easier to leave. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and you can taste the truth in it. As the time and the distance between you grows, every fleeting brush of your lives is fuelled with momentum. Like an arrow, you draw back, only to fly truer and faster. And without rhyme or reason he is warmer and closer every time you return. You fall in together, even tighter than if you'd never been apart.

And yet in a way it is devastating, it haunts you when you're away, chasing you into your dreams. The heat of his hand on your shoulder, the touch of his gaze on your face, the heavy weight of his trust, the twist of disappointment as you leave. He drags you back to him with an inexorable magnetic force. What are you but a moth to his light? 

Familiarity breeds contempt. It is a fear you cannot shake, not when his esteem lifts you higher than the wings of a dragon could fly. Not when he sees you though you walk through life as a ghost.

But even you cannot run forever. You leave them in the longest shadows of the sun, your silent dreams in their care and hope that the morning sun finds your threadbare heart in one piece.


End file.
